If You Can't Run With The Big Dogs, Stay On The Porch

Poor Jack learned a lesson yesterday that had him sick, depressed and his "big dog in a small dog's body" attitude had been crushed. For the past several nights there has been a pack of stray dogs (large wild looking dogs) running the neighborhood where I live. This is not in town, so don't get all alarmed. When I let Jack out to do his business he would find the pack, join it and be gone for hours. Gypsy on the other hand lost her wanderlust and just stayed in my lap anytime I was home.

Yesterday when I got home from work I was surprised to find Jack at home since he had been staying out with the bad dogs until bedtime. His head was hanging, his eyes were drooping, he was sneezing, his belly was red and blotchy and he looked like he had been dragged through a briar patch. He looked worse than the day I rescued him two years ago.

He usually loves canned dog food but was too tired to even eat. After he slept, with his legs trembling and jerking, he got up and ate the dog food. Then I got out the trusty Benadryl and shoved that down his throat. By bedtime he was nearly himself again and I got a full nights sleep for the first time all week. Whatever happened cured him of scratching on the door, barking and begging to go outside which happened every time the wild dogs came into my yard.

It was quite a dilemma for me since I have been a dog lover all my life. How do I protect Jack and Gypsy from these dogs? I did not have the heart to shoot them and was too afraid of them to try and catch them. Also I was not sure if they all belonged to some of the neighbors and got together and decided to try the wild side of life. So I came up with the loud noise, scare them away solution which came in the shape of firecrackers. After three nights of throwing a firecracker into the yard, they seem to have gotten the hint that they are not welcome.

So the moral of this story is as the title says, "If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch." Jack did.